Casper for some reason got a really bad feeling about what was going on. He saw that, in the corner of the pitch dark cell, Anton was crouching as if trying to hide himself.
Some time ago the man indeed seemed to be terrified about what was happening, but now he was in a complete panic state. Even with the lack of lighting there, Casper could notice that his body was trembling and he was mumbling something.
"H-hey, Anton, is everything…" Casper was stopped at the moment that Anton stood up quickly and ran towards him.
The soldier got prepared for whatever the man was going to do, however, he showed amazing speed and ability, avoiding Casper's hands and closing his mouth without letting him dodge it.
He got startled by the sudden approach of Anton, and nearly fell back to his bed. He was pondering if he should start a combat there. The mental state of his cellmate was unknown until now.
"Shhhh…" He said, looking at Casper with crazy eyes. "Don't do it. Stop to talk. Otherwise, they will found me for sure."
"Me? But, what happened with the speak in third person?" He thought.
Casper nodded quickly, then Anton let go of him and quickly returned to his corner, shrinking over there as if he was a frightened animal.
The White warrior drew his attention to a noise that came from the corridor. Someone had opened the gate of, at least, six cells.
Then, other sounds could be heard, and fear started to fill Casper's heart, along with a huge sense of danger.
These sounds were of the prisoners. As soon as the gates started open and haste steps of the Ridire could be heard indicating that they were entering the cells, the inmates began to scream like beasts, some of them even crying.
"NOOOOO! DON'T CAME HERE! DON'T TOUCH ME!!"
"LEAVE ALONE! LEAVE ME ALOOOONE!"
"N-not again… Please, not again! I can't pass for this anymore! Don't make me suffer more! STOOOOOP!"
The Ridires also were making a fuss. As it seemed, the prisoners somehow were ignoring the restrictions of the masks and fighting back. Nonetheless, in that hysterical state, none of them could stand a chance against those trained soldiers.
Soon, the screams stopped and turned into low sobs. More steps echoed, this time not just the Ridire's, but from the prisoners as well.
Casper had walked slowly and reached the gate of his own cell, trying to look at what was going on in the corridor but he could not see anything at all.
The only thing that could be spotted in that dark corridor were the red lights of the Ridire's arms.
The prisoners of the other cells started to become agitated, whispering with each other. Most of them were sobbing in despair, others moaning, and a few were already shouting nonsense and trying to break into the cell gates.
Casper gave another look to Anton, and he was even worse than before, saying some things that the soldier could not hear quite.
He approached his cellmate, crouching down in front of him, and paid attention to what he was saying.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't let them do it with me again. Please. Leave me resting in peace for the rest of my life. Let me attach a rope in my freaking neck and go to Valhalla already… Please, please… Don't let Anton come back again. Stop him!"
He ceased to talk for a while, looking into space, with his eyes turned to the floor. His breath was unsteady, some times it was uncontrolled and fast, and in other times it was calm and steady.
Casper approached him even more, staring intently at his mask. Anton suddenly raised his head. He gazed at Casper, directly into his eyes. The soldier realized that his eyes were filled with tears.
"Casper… C-Casper… The lights… Bring the lights for me, Casper! Don't let them approach me agaaaain!" He jumped in his direction, holding the soldier in the arm and shaking him.
Seeing a composed and quiet person like Anton acting that way just made the fear in Casper's heart increase even more.
The Ridires doing the guard started to yell at the prisoners, ordering them to be quiet.
It did not take too long for them to reach Casper's cell and scold him and Anton.
After this, Casper's partner got silent and went back to his corner, just groaning sometimes and whispering with himself.
The White warrior sat at his bed, waiting for that Ridire to let go of them and went to perturb another prisoner.
"Man… I hate how this world always finds different ways to make me feel as if I am blinded… What's going on? What the heck does these guys will do with the prisoners? Torture them?"
Casper could just remain rambling for about an hour or so. By this time, the prisoners that were brought to somewhere had returned.
They were in a mortal silence, a few were still sobbing and talking nonsense. There were the ones trying to scream, but it sounded like they had something in their mouths preventing them to do so.
Some more cells were opened, this time the ones closer to Casper's. It was about eight of them as well.
Now that the action was not so distant, Casper could see better the silhouettes of the Ridires and the inmates.
The screams, sobs, and fights happened again, and the conclusion also was the same. In the end, they dragged some of them through the corridors.
As far as Casper could notice, not all the prisoners from those cells were dragged, but just one per cell.
After some more hours, the time came when the soldier's cell opened the gate of Casper's cell. At that time, Anton had fainted because of his anxiety.
The Ridires entered their cells and looked at both, Casper and Anton.
"That one is new. Bring them as well." One of them said.
Casper was prepared to fight if needed, but before he could do anything, the Ridire pointed his index finger to him, which was with a ring.
That ring sent a bolt of light towards Casper, that stroke him at his forehead and made everything went blank all of a sudden.
…
Casper remained with that blank sight in his mind for some time. It was a strange feeling. He could not think in anything, nor see anything, nor move. But he surely was still conscious.
He could feel vaguely that someone was touching his body, particularly the face. There were a lot of people talking around him.
As long as he was getting used to that state, everything became a bit more clear. He could notice that he was laying in something, probably a bed, but its surface was too hard to be a mattress.
Indeed, people were touching his face, but not just with their hands, but also with different equipment.
There was something connected with the side of his head, and that thing made his brain become all achy as if it was getting bigger and bigger, nearly cracking his skull.
Although the pain was distant, it still annoyed Casper.
His sense of time was all messed up, and he could not tell how many times he was there already. It seemed like it lasted for long.
After some time, his senses finally came back one by one. First, his touch, then smell, hearing, taste, and vision.
That blank sight that he had before was vanishing and being replaced by all sorts of colors. At first, he was very confused and stunned because of that, but then he got used again.
When he was completely recovered, he realized that two Ridires were dragging him through some corridors. They were walking hastily, talking with each other.
"How much time do you think that it will take?"
"I have no clue at all. You know how the Forger is: sometimes that guy looks like a smart person, and sometimes like a dumb and incompetent scientist. I think that's because he is the eccentric type, so he has his own logical process."
"Well, I don't give a sh*t to what type of person he is, but I can't just work with someone who can try to kill me anytime. If it was someone that I could kill at least, it would be a thing, but we can't kill him; otherwise, Catrina will uproot our arms."
Both Ridires sighed and then gave a glance to Casper. When they noticed that he was already awake, they gave him a disgusted look.
After some time, they arrived at the cell and threw him inside as if he was a sandbag, closing the gate as soon as possible.
In the background, Casper could still hear some people crying, trying to scream, or just whispering.
His head was hot inside. Really, really hot. He thought that his brain was going to melt and get out through his ears.
It was all achy as well, particularly the right side of his head, near the temple.
Casper was very tired and feeling sick. His vision was becoming blurred again because of the sudden exhaustion. However, he did not sleep all night.